Arts
Tea and a little touch of England
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The full English afternoon tea
Upon entering the premises of Dottie’s English Tea Room, perched on the far end of Rosmead Place, we understand why this place is the buzzword on everyone’s lips since it opened two weeks ago. From the delicate dull gold finishing on the floral couches and ceramic trinkets around the room to the bone china cups, everything about this place is quirky and eminently likeable.
Dottie’s opened with little fanfare two weeks ago but suddenly found its small front room swarming with customers following a Yamu First Look review. When we pop by for a quick visit the tea room is already bustling with business. Sitting poised amidst all this is Lisa Keerthichandra, the co-founder and chief culinary brains behind the enterprise.
Lisa moved to Sri Lanka with her husband Dash a couple of years ago, leaving behind an investment management job in the UK. She brought with her a book of recipes concocted in the Kent kitchen of her grandmother Dot. Sponge filled with billowy cream, a lemon drizzle cake to warm up a cold evening and warm scones to be slathered with jam and clotted cream. Neither Lisa nor Dash had planned to venture into the dining business in Colombo- it was brought around by opportunity and, well, boredom.
Lisa: Bringing her grandmother Dot’s recipes from Kent to Sri Lanka
“We started out with a few private afternoon tea events for friends and acquaintances,” says Lisa. “It was so popular that we thought about opening this place.” Lisa spent months researching and reinventing her Nan’s recipes; the lemon in her drizzle cake was swapped for a much more readily available and just as delicious passionfruit and the ratios were adjusted to counter the tropical climate’s unforgiving effect on butter.
The menu at Dottie’s has a few staples like Victoria Sponge Cakes, English scones, the drizzle cake, kisses, shortbread and brownies and even quiche, complimented by regular (and sometimes temporary) additions to the menu. The pink tea comes highly recommended; the soft blushing pink of the tea is underscored with a few tiny dried roses for added flavour. Of course, for your complete Dottie’s experience they recommend the full English afternoon tea; a three tiered affair that comes with open face sandwiches (the classic English cucumber included), scones, jam and cream and a few types of cake.
On weekends they offer a full English breakfast complete with thick cuts of bacon, fried tomatoes, mushroom, egg, beans and sausage. They’ll also have options for lunch and dinner-nothing too elaborate, says Dash-“just a few options each day, whatever we think will work for that day.” Soon enough the duo plans to open a little B&B upstairs. For the moment, their plan is to offer a simple menu of delicious food set in a quintessentially English space, inspired by the comfort Lisa’s grandmother found in her afternoon tea ritual.
Tea for five in a typical English setting. Pic by Athula Devapriya
-D.I.
Dottie’s is open from noon to 8 pm on weekdays (closed on Mondays) and 9 am to 7 pm on weekends. Find them at 95, Rosmead Place, Colombo 07 and on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/dottiesvintagetea/